


Let the Paperwork Rot

by dragondance360



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Angst, Crimson Flower, F/F, I just want the girls happy, One Shot, Post-Time Skip, They are having a great time not thinking about war, boob touching, pre-valentine's day fiesta, sortin thru those interior feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-16 13:47:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29208360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragondance360/pseuds/dragondance360
Summary: Byleth sneaks Edelgard out of Garreg Mach to have some fun! An emperor will get worn thin without a little downtime, right?Or, Byleth and Edelgard realize how vastly their destinies have altered since crossing paths. They realize the giant handprint they have left on each other's hearts.
Relationships: Edelgard von Hresvelg/My Unit | Byleth
Comments: 6
Kudos: 66





	Let the Paperwork Rot

“Bring your professor into the fold? My niece, you must control your feelings. Don’t ruin our advantage. Behave.”

This chastising tone was the glistening dagger that Lord Arundel reigned her with. Even when she wore this mask, she felt like a marionette.

Edelgard held her tongue, was not about to admit her feelings so blatantly to her uncle.

“What is it about her?” he asked. She could not trace any thunder in his voice, and could not tell if he sneered.

“She makes me happy,” Edelgard said. She boiled it down to a bite-sized sentiment but had not expressed it fully. It did not have the punch she wanted.

“Professor Eisner won’t understand your goals. She supports you because she’s been tricked.” Arundel shook his head, a small smile betraying his scorn. “Emperors are seldom happy.” Now her uncle frowned. “How many times will history force you to learn? The pauper in his leaky chamber is allowed happiness. The nobleman is entitled to nibble at it, lest he grow too fat and happy. But not you. Happiness makes a ruler weak. It will destroy the ideals you talk so highly of, and it is the chip in your armor.”

“Perhaps.”

“You doubt me. Fine. You can harbor your ruin, and I’ll gladly watch. Just remember that I advised you against it.”

~~~

Edelgard looked up. Byleth was still there, cleaning the blade of her sword in soft, long movements. The way Byleth carried herself outside of battle always made her stare. How was it that someone so powerful could transform like this out of the enemy’s eye?

Edelgard had done well capturing Byleth’s likeness on paper. The sketch displayed the moment her arm fully extended to the tip of the sword. She shaded the muscles and discerned the subtle ways skin moved over bone. She drew the fresh axe marks from Hilda that decorated Byleth’s left knee and curled down her leg in an epic gash. She refused to flinch as she illustrated the wound. Hilda. Her dreams and ambitions were eclipsing lives, as always. The brush was set aside.

A pile of paperwork sat on her left and she ignored it. She did not feel like corresponding with Lords or enlisting reinforcements or even painting.

“What are you doing tomorrow?” Byleth asked, noticing the lull in Edelgard’s work.

“Well, I must speak with minor bishops and church heads in outer regions as they vie for power. They’ve sided with me and expect Rhea’s defeat,” Edelgard said, sighing. It would take hours to negotiate and execute her ideals and ultimately communicate that in her Empire, a group comparable to the Church of Seiros would not be permitted to exist. She would hide her discontent in a concise delivery.

“You dislike conducting business with them, so why do you still do it?” Byleth said, sliding the iron sword back in its sheath.

Edelgard paused. “I do not know. You are correct, it’s difficult for me to compromise with them. Their emphasis on crests makes me… furious. But my position requires me to play nice. I need their aid. If it were possible, I’d abolish their station, effective immediately.” Edelgard lay her fist on the stack of requests. “But I’m sure there are exceptionally talented people caught up in this organization, like you, and I can’t very well abandon them.”

“You always consider every player. But still, it’s difficult to know the right thing to do,” Byleth mused, standing up and shifting towards the door.

Edelgard’s heart sank. Was she leaving so soon? “It is. But, my teacher, you approach everything with calm and purpose. I always think of what you would do or say in these situations.”

Instead of leaving, Byleth walked over to the chestnut table and placed her hand on Edelgard’s shoulder, leaning forward.

Byleth looked at her with that deadly cool, that piercing gaze that Edelgard often encountered in her dreams. The face that had faded over five long years. The face that Edelgard was relieved, every day, to recognize anew. “In this situation, I guess I’d ask you if you wanted a break.”

Edelgard furrowed her brow, her mouth twisting apprehensively. “A break? But I have much to do… An Emperor cannot…”

“I’ve already asked Hubert and Ferdinand to cover for you tomorrow. They’re worried about your sleepless nights, as am I. They know you’re working incredibly hard. The offer is yours, if you’d like to take it,” Byleth said.

Edelgard’s heart quickened as she weighed her options.

“I’d like to take you somewhere,” Byleth finished. A flash of emotion passed over her face. Edelgard missed what it was—longing? Hope? Pity? A trick of the light? She wished she had seen.

Come to think of it, this was the first time Byleth had initiated anything besides a tea party.

Edelgard knew she hadn’t been shy about relying on Byleth’s crystalline judgment and emotional support at the academy and in battle. Edelgard was the planner and instigator. However, she wasn’t prepared for what she’d feel when the roles were reversed.

“Professor, forgive me. I fear that I cannot, as much as it would please me. Would this be wise, in the midst of war?"

“If you’re worried about revealing your identity, I’ve thought that through. We’ll travel anonymously tomorrow,” Byleth said. Then she smiled.

Edelgard couldn’t protest against that.

“All right.” Edelgard reached up and grasped Byleth’s hand, their fingers overlapping on her shoulder. Maybe it wasn’t becoming of a leader to siesta in the middle of a fierce war, but every portion of Edelgard’s will had decided to see Byleth’s request through. It was new, seeing Byleth want.

“I’ll come for you at dawn tomorrow,” Byleth said, pressing lightly on Edelgard’s shoulder.

Edelgard had grown fond of these physical affirmations. Her shoulder still felt warm after Byleth drew away.

Edelgard saw the purple and blues collide with Byleth’s face in the morning light. It swept her jawline in a beautiful way. The shadow that fell under her chin was as fathomless as a reflecting pool at midnight. It made her want to reach out and run the tips of her fingers over it.

Byleth had brought a leather bag with her. She hovered it over Edelgard’s bedspread, asking her if it was okay to put down, before displaying its contents. There were two outfits. One was Edelgard’s old suit of armor from her charade as the Flame Emperor.

“Hubert found it for me,” Byleth said. “He said that it adds height, and that if we remove the mask and feather décor, we can repurpose it into a new disguise…”

Edelgard stared down at the falsely broad shoulder blades, rubbing her thumbs over the metal. She’d caused so many problems hiding behind this silly mask before she’d mustered the strength to cast her intentions in the light. Forced to cooperate with individuals like Arundel and Solon, among other unfavorable allies. She clenched the breastplate. She’d deceived the Professor in these very clothes. But despite this disguise, this treachery and deception, Byleth had dipped her sword towards Rhea. Had believed in her against the odds. A warm feeling crept into her cheeks. Byleth helped her cast off this mask so easily.

She realized how emotional she was when Byleth moved closer. She turned her face away.

“I’m sorry, El,” Byleth said, studying her. “I… made a mistake suggesting this as your disguise.”

Edelgard breathed out, relieved that her eyes were dry. “No, not at all. I allowed myself to be overcome with the past. It’s something I avoid, yet still get ensnared in. Please do not worry. This armor will do just fine, and it fits me seamlessly.”

“Only if you’re sure,” Byleth protested. She looked unhappy.

Edelgard saw that she required an explanation.

“I was only thinking of how much I desired to tell you it was me underneath this costume,” Edelgard blurted out. “It reminded me of deceiving you.”

“We do hard things to see our goals to the end. I won’t resent you for that,” Byleth said, looking at her seriously.

Edelgard couldn’t help smile shyly at her sincerity. “Wearing this will be like attending a masquerade ball. What fun! What have you brought for yourself?”

“I’m wearing my mercenary outfit with a hooded cloak.” Byleth showed off her dusty and altogether worn outfit. She held it up like a country flag. Her fondness of it shone through.

“Hmm? I suppose a mercenary’s garb is fairly inconspicuous compared to what you wear as the Enlightened One.” Edelgard smirked. “But don’t you have your own secret suit of armor for our day out? Tell me your secrets, my teacher. Are you hiding a fisherman’s outfit somewhere out of my line of sight?”

“I’ll go find one if that makes you happy,” Byleth said, her brow tight.

Edelgard giggled. “I’m being ridiculous, the outfit you chose is perfect.”

Byleth nodded and then began taking off her clothes. Without any warning. Edelgard stood there dumbfounded before whipping around and fussing over the Flame Emperor armor. She willed herself not to look. Avoid engaging at all costs…! Byleth could be so clueless.

“El, do you need help getting that on?”

“I’m perfectly capable of dawning my own armor, but your thought is… appreciated.”

In the end, she had Byleth tighten the straps across her back and under her arms. She held her breath as Byleth moved the armor into place, willing herself to feel nothing even when Byleth’s fingers brushed her chemise. Edelgard felt a strange concoction of two desires: to run and to be touched. Even though her cruelest scars were concealed, the ones on her arms were exposed to Byleth. She had never felt so vulnerable.

Byleth paused on the large scar on her upper arm, gently running a forefinger along its jagged path to her elbow. Edelgard didn’t think they deserved to be touched like that. The scars were not pretty, not lovable. They were milky and felt like hardened ridges along her skin.

“I have not seen these in a while,” Byleth remarked.

“They’re… hard to look at.”

“Do they still cause you pain?”

“No— but they are a reminder of it.” Of cruelty. Of power gone astray. The misused power she would reallocate to those deserving of it.

“I think they tell a story,” Byleth said. “Of how strong you are.”

“I must disagree. My scars mean the opposite. If anyone were to see them, they’d know how easily my skin tears and, blades raised, not hesitate to reopen them.”

“But I have seen them, and I don’t think so. I see them and know you have suffered a great deal. And despite that suffering, you live on. An enemy should notice and take caution. You’re not one to easily be defeated.”

Edelgard felt her insides melt. Byleth’s well of astute kindness made her unable to say anything more. She had changed her perspective in just a few words. Their eyes connected, and then she quickly redirected her gaze at the flower vase behind her.

Byleth fixed up the rest of her armor, stepping back to make sure everything was in order.

“You’re tall now,” Byleth reported.

“Just an extra bit of height. Invariably the same.” Edelgard assured her, putting her hands on her hips.

Byleth gazed at her. “It looks great on you.”

“I t-thank you.”

Edelgard wondered if Byleth could feel the air hum and particles tighten whenever they occupied the same space. These tender feelings she held were vast, its canyons deep. And what if it were one-sided? What if she were the canyon and Byleth the plateau?

She sighed inaudibly, willing fresh air to pass through her lungs and calm her. She supposed the purgatory of unrequited feelings suited her as punishment.

A whistling on the wind was audible, like the sound a tea kettle makes before boiling.

“Our ride is here,” Byleth said, turning to the window and throwing the wooden shutters open. There stood—flew—a Pegasus. It placed two hoofs on the windowpane and allowed its rider to dismount and duck into the bedchamber.

The rider that stood in front of them cast back his hood dramatically. It was a bizarre reveal because Edelgard already knew who he was from his stature. Hubert. And he was shaking.

“Hubert!” she exclaimed. “You abhor heights! Why didn’t you have Petra or—”

“Lady Edelgard.” He bowed, knees wobbly. “It was my greatest wish to see you off safely.”

“Oh, Hubert.” Edelgard paused, embarrassment catching up with her. “You must find my actions irresponsible. Me, sneaking off like some adolescent into the night when I have pressing matters to attend to.” She turned to Byleth. She still couldn’t bring herself to decline, but she knew a respectable leader should. She wasn’t sure about Claude, as he had been defeated, but there was no chance that Dimitri was allowing himself to recline and smell the roses. The paperwork and the bishops awaited her. She felt an urgent feeling prickle at her sides.

“Lady Edelgard,” Hubert repeated, this time gravely. “You had no chance of dawdling around for fun as a youth. Leisure like this was inaccessible to you. Please, allow us to make it possible now.”

They all knew what he alluded to. No, she had never run around anywhere for pleasure’s sake. Surviving experimentation in a dingy, echoing basement was no idyllic childhood.

“Taking a break improves performance and reasoning skills,” Hubert said, smoothing his tussled hair. “At least, that is what Linhardt revealed to me when I confronted him on the matter. He is an expert on the art of taking breaks, as you are aware. You do not like dealing with the church, so I request you leave the negotiation with those fiends to me, as your vassal.”

His determination made Edelgard’s eyes crinkle. He had always been first-rate, and now he would go as far as supporting her selfish desires.

“Linhardt is an accomplished scholar, and I trust his word. Stress relief is essential to a leader. As your former teacher, I also advise you to take a break, even if only for a day,” Byleth said earnestly.

“You leave me no room to object,” Edelgard said. “And I thank you both for that. My only request is at the first sign of danger or attack, you summon me back to Garreg Mach immediately.”

And they were off.

Byleth took her beyond Gronder Field, to a quiet area near the cost. Fodlan was a sight to behold in the crisp upper air. The majesty of the land unfolded beneath them like a storybook, the small shadow of the Pegasus zipping over trees and valleys. A ferocity struck Edelgard as she acknowledged the war-torn lands at the edge of her field of vision. She set these sights away. Tomorrow she could worry about the battlefield again.

Edelgard held fast to Byleth’s torso as they did a somersault in the air. Her stomach churned in protest.

“Professor! What was that?!”

“A new trick I learned,” Byleth said, grinning back at her.

And just like that, the looming duties, battles, fatigue, and losses had exited Edelgard’s mind. Just for a little while.

“Professor?”

“Hmm?”

“Do it again. This time, my stomach will prevail.”

Upon arrival, Byleth spread out a generous picnic under a gnarled tree on the gentle slope to the sea. The Pegasus grazed along the field, fluttering its wings when it chewed off a particularly good piece of grass. There were homemade chocolates wrapped in delicate foil, finger sandwiches smothered with boiled egg, cucumber and dill, and roasted pheasant with Albinean berry sauce. There was even a platter of saghert and cream, which Edelgard eyed, her mouth watering. She removed her makeshift mask and placed it by the roots.

Byleth handed her a cup of fragrant bergamot, steeped long and served hot. The way she liked it.

“Do you think anybody in all of Fodlan knows we’re here?”

“No, El. Just us.”

Edelgard sipped her tea, letting it fill her with warmth before lying back on the plaid cloth and reaching her armored arms into the sky. She watched the clouds zoom above, liking how nature ran on its own clock. She turned to look up at Byleth from where she was lying down, her hair spilling onto the blanket and grass.

This was the time.

“I am so overjoyed that you’re back.” Edelgard plucked at the grass with a lazy hand. “I cannot express how much I missed you. I… wasn’t sure I could do all this without you.” Edelgard felt Byleth’s eyes on her. “Here I am, overworking myself and worrying about the future. But then you come along and change everything, all the time, always for the better. I feel relaxed for the first time in weeks.”

It felt good to say how she felt. She had more to say, too, but perhaps she needed to simmer and develop it a little longer.

Sitting there, Edelgard decided that it would be okay if were unrequited. After all, Byleth had chosen to spend this time with her, and that was enough.

But Byleth did something unexpected. She leaned over her, her green hair casting a shadow over Edelgard’s face.

Byleth face creased with effort. “El. Your resolve is contagious. I go where time takes me, that’s always the way it has been. But when I met you, I felt a… clash.” She struggled to find the words. “From that point on, I sensed there was a fork in my path. And for the first time, I could choose my destiny.”

“Are you satisfied with the choice you made, to stay by my side?” Edelgard hadn’t heard Byleth talk about turning her back on the church in this many words… ever. She wanted to draw out more.

“You spoke a long time ago about how you felt we are equals. We’ve both been burdened because of our crests, these crests and destinies that were chosen for us, not by us. I imagined the future you described, without crests… and it…”

Byleth leaned back now, drinking up the sun.

“It was a future I also wanted.”

~~~

Byleth trudged along the path everyone expected of her. In fact, she did not know another path existed. Her arms sliced bandit flesh and she stared at the carnage, unsure what to do once they crumpled to the ground. Some called it a disturbing lack of empathy. What did that mean? What was she missing? She offered reassuring pats to scared villagers because she had seen others do the same. But no emotion passed over her stoic face. Nobody fathomed the hollowness inside.

Jeralt asked her benign questions that meant nothing. It did not matter to her what food she ate, how many people she killed, or where they slept.

When she triggered Sothis’ Divine Pulse for the first time, she didn’t understand how she had done it. She protected Edelgard by harnessing the power of miracles. But Edelgard was a stranger to her. So why?

It was her face that changed everything.

Byleth didn’t normally pay attention to faces. Only Jeralt’s stood out to her; all others were passing figures that she either ignored or cut through.

Gazing at Edelgard’s face a split second before the bandit tore metal through her, she saw the unbelievable and the unknown. It was indecipherable. But now she knew it was a mangled fusion of fury, disbelief, and horrible sorrow at the realization that she had more to give to the world but never would.

Byleth wondered what that felt like.

This desire was why she made that very first decision for herself, surprising Sothis and catching the attention of the Lords.

When Rhea cooed and praised her power, she felt the familiar sensation overcome her. A dead stillness that enclosed her whole being. Not a serene calm, but a crushing staleness.

It was different with the leader of the Black Eagles. Wielding compassion like a knife, she spoke on what plagued her mind, demanding feelings and reactions from Byleth. Byleth struggled. What exactly were her feelings? Why did this incessant girl care so much about justice, reform, and Byleth’s opinion? Why didn’t Miss Von Hresvelg just let her carry on as the church’s muscle?

Why did she have to deal with all these new and troubling feelings?

Edelgard waited for her response, lavender eyes ablaze, never rushing her. Byleth slowly felt the nothingness subside.

When her students got injured, she felt like she had stepped into a bear trap, even though she hadn’t. She even checked her body multiple times for a physical wound. She was fine. It was troubling.

“It hurts,” Byleth said privately to Edelgard one day, months into her teaching career.

“What, where? What does, my teacher? Should we fetch Manuela?” Edelgard said, fussing.

Byleth shook her head. “There is nothing wrong with my body.”

Edelgard looked at her, puzzled, and then Byleth saw her face calm in recognition.

“Yes, my teacher,” Edelgard said. “Living life brings pain and sorrow, and all sorts of emotions that hurt you.”

Byleth nodded. “I’ve noticed joy brings pain, too, in its absence.”

She felt the tingling victory from the battle of the Eagle and Lion subsiding. The rush she thought would never go away was doing just that. She wished she could go back and live it again, to revive the happiness.

“Would joy be as coveted if you did not experience its opposite? You should be proud of yourself, my teacher. Letting those feelings, good and bad, wash over you is true strength. Many shut them out, and as a result, feel neither the highs nor the lows.”

“Like you, sometimes,” Byleth said. She fished for the word. “Restrained.”

“And you, likewise,” Edelgard retorted. And then she laughed.

Five years had passed. Byleth felt the loss of time when she gazed at her students. She spent every ounce of her attention guiding their efforts, and now the fruits of her labor stood before her. Her eyes hurt, and some vile, two-faced emotion choked her intestines and cheered voraciously within her heart at the same time.

She noticed how tired Edelgard had become. Strung-out. She handled the pressures of leadership well, but their closeness revealed that the tensions were piling up. Byleth searched her mind for ways to alleviate her stress. Edelgard had carved something open in her that previously didn’t have a door. What could she offer in return?

~~~

Edelgard smiled up at her from the blanket with those tired eyes. “This world needs restructuring. There are so many organizations that are broken, twisted, and heinous in Fodlan. But we can fix it, together. Knowing that we share the same dream is… so…”

Yes, what she felt for Edelgard was awe. Awe of her unshakable will and constitution. And love. Love for someone who had not treated her as an asset or object, or as an impenetrable, fearsome beast with a sword. Edelgard, who taught her to choose and awakened her personality from its dormant state.

Byleth was surprised at the storm brewing in her chest. She had felt it in Edelgard’s office as she was painted, and again in the bedroom before their departure. But she did nothing, afraid that the emotion wasn’t hers to have. She felt the tug stronger now, the tug she had not understood previously.

Byleth leaned down and hovered her face above Edelgard’s, seeing if the tug would be returned. Could feelings like this hop between people like wildfire? She wanted to know. Was this feeling singular or shareable? Edelgard lifted her head off the blanket and stroked Byleth’s face with her thumbs, cupping her jaw in her hands.

There it was.

Byleth pressed her lips to Edelgard’s mouth, bridging the gap between canyon and plateau. Her mouth was soft and yielding and meant to fit with hers. Byleth felt Edelgard wrap her arms around her neck, and they both laughed when their armor bumped and clanged. And then the mood returned.

Byleth had become familiar with Edelgard’s touch in the recent weeks. It seemed they couldn’t stop reaching out to one another in the hours after battle, whether they were in the strategy room or sharing a meal in the cafeteria. But this was what all those little tugs accumulated to. This is what she had longed for.

Byleth planted kisses right up to the cold lip of Edelgard’s armor, watching her face for cues. Edelgard shivered in the sun.

When Byleth slipped Edelgard’s upper torso out of her armor, she ran her hands over the curve of her breasts and along her back. She hugged her body to her. This body that belonged to her favorite person in the world. The person who understood her before she understood herself. She kissed her neck one, two, three times and drank in Edelgard’s calming scent.

Edelgard shifted on top of her, casting aside the mercenary breastplate and caressed her chest like it was the only precious thing left in the world. Edelgard returned to her lips, kissing her with insatiable passion and an open mouth, tugging her hands through translucent green hair and running circles with her nails over Byleth’s arched back. Byleth felt Edelgard’s emotions radiating like white flames from a fireplace during a frigid Pegasus Moon.

It felt so good that she could hardly stand it. Another juxtaposition that was the hallmark of emotion.

After their kiss, Byleth let Edelgard lean against her under the tree’s sturdy trunk. She pressed her forehead into the back of Edelgard’s neck, loving the dampness she found there, and wrapped her arms around her waist. Edelgard sighed with pleasure.

“When my work is done and my dreams are realized, I want to explore all over Fodlan,” Edelgard said. “I want to see it all with you, and experience everything.”

“I promise we will, El.”

“We are at the base of the mountain looking up. But I know one day we’ll overcome all the obstacles set before us.”

Byleth liked seeing Edelgard like this, clutching her fists and almost shaking with excitement and resolve. Sure they could wait, but Byleth believed they could begin now—not later—not after the war—in this very moment.

“Do you want to swim?”

“Now?” Edelgard looked down the hill, perplexed, at the white-capped waves. “I… cannot. Forgive me, another shortcoming.”

“It won’t be a shortcoming for long,” Byleth said. “I’ll hold you and teach you how.”

Edelgard stopped, gazing hard at the waters below the lawn. She opened her mouth to say something, and then brought a hand to her chin. “I’m not entirely comfortable, I will admit. However, I believe you are truly a multifaceted teacher.” Her breathing steadied. “I will give it a try.”

Byleth squeezed her tighter from behind.

“I hope you brought your fishing rod for when you must rescue me,” Edelgard added dryly.

They ran down to the water together, casting off their armor as fast as they could. They unhooked straps and cast away shock guards like molting snakes. The metal armor glinted in the sun like miniature monuments on the sand.

Byleth dove into the water without hesitation, savoring the iciness rushing over her limbs and the tiny current pulling at her heels. When she emerged, she caught a glimpse of Edelgard’s worried face on the shore. Her chemise flapped in the wind. Byleth waded closer to her.

“Come to me!” she yelled above the crashing waves.

Edelgard yelled out her frustration, crouched in an athletic position that looked a little funny without an axe equipped, and sprinted towards Byleth’s outstretched hand.


End file.
